American history.

Pierre Quéré

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What were the two most important reasons that the English joined the race

for colonies in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries ?

        In the sixteenth century, England had harsh problems, religious tensions but mainly social

and economic issues. At this time, the worldwide demand for wool was growing rapidly.

This demand motivated English's landowners to convert their land from fields for crops to pastures

for sheep. The result was a significant reduction in the amount of land available for growing food.  

This was one major problem especially because the England's population kept growing up.

Meanwhile, a new economic concept named '' Mercantilism '' spread throughout Europe.

Mercantilism is a system in which a country attempts to amass wealth through trade with other

countries, exporting more than it imports and rising stores of gold and precious metals.

Otherwise, it increased the attractiveness of acquiring colonies. Some English believed that

expanding territories through colonies would solve both their social and economic problems.

Finally, England gained a series of territories, starting with '' Roanoke Island '' in 1587 and

principally Jamestown in 1607.

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